Need some advice with giving pills

[Lillyenn]

So one of my cats has a medical issue. She started vomiting way too regularly (like daily) and her fur also started falling out (like there are no bald patches on her at all, but her fur is everywhere all the time). She has days when she's really tired and days when she's completely fine. She ates, drinks and uses the litter completely normally, but we took her to the vet because we didn't want the problem to get worse.

We did an ultrasound and a bunch of blood tests. There are some enzim issues with her liver, but otherwise most of her organs appeared completely normal. But she has inflammation in multiple places (in her mouth it's really bad, and in her stomach, but there's no fluid also some of her glands are way bigger than they should be). Sorry for the poor explanation, this is the best I was able to do, I don't even fully comprehend the problems in my first language. Basically the vet said that it can either be some problem that she will be able to overcome if we boost her immune system with some help/medicine, or it can be some auto-immune disease, or in worst chase scenario, it's the dry version of fip. So I'm scared for her life (and this is especially hard for me because we lost her son around last Christmas).

Our biggest problem in this situation is that she would need a bunch of medicine to get better (obviously not all at once but we need to figure out what we are dealing with) but this is the most stubborn cat ever. She doesn't eat anything if I just mix some medicine in it (be it fluid or pills), syringe- she drools it out, so only a little bit of medicine goes down her throat. We are also unable to just shove a pill down her throat. And I need some advice, how do you give pills to your cat, that works?

 

[betsygee]

Poor baby. I hope you're able to work out what's wrong and make her more comfortable.

Does she have any treats that she likes? You might be able to hide pills in a treat like tuna or a small piece of chicken. My cat has to take thyroid pills every day. Fortunately she likes pill pockets so we can hide her pills in there and she eats it as a treat.

Good luck.

 

[Lillyenn]

Poor baby. I hope you're able to work out what's wrong and make her more comfortable.

Does she have any treats that she likes? You might be able to hide pills in a treat like tuna or a small piece of chicken. My cat has to take thyroid pills every day. Fortunately she likes pill pockets so we can hide her pills in there and she eats it as a treat.

Good luck.

Yeah we thought about hiding the pill in her dinner (which is always some kind of cooked meat like chicken breast). We are just worried, because today, my mom tried giving it to her hidden in some ham, and she ate the ham, and spit out the pill... So if giving her with meat doesn't work, we will be kind of lost, because I don't think that pill pockets are available in my country.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi.
You might try some of these options for mixing a bit of one with her meds, just to help get the meds down and know she has ingested it. All of these have worked with Feeby and can be done with crushable pills and liquids.
1.) 'juice' from canned tuna and chicken, and then give her a piece of the meat as a treat afterward
2.) baby food meats (Gerber Stage 2 or Beechnut)
3.) lickable treats, such as Applaws, Wholehearted, Tiki Cat Stix, Inaba Churu, Vitakraft - just to name a few
4.) Tiki Cat Mousse (which is complete meal, not a treat)
I have had meds that made Feeby foam at the mouth when given by themselves. With each of the above, she hasn't even noticed she is taking a medication. I hope one or more will work for you! Good luck!

 

[trishc59]

I had a couple of very stubborn cats, somehow they always knew when we tried putting something into their food. Finally I just sat with the cat on my lap and gently wedged one finger inside his mouth my husband had the pill ready we coated it with some of the wet cat food once he put the pill inside our cats mouth I would hold his mouth closed and gently pet over his throat until he would swallow took all of a couple moments. We never wanted him to get used to it at a certain time so we would do this at different times each day until his meds were finished. Cats are tough, and although we try our best not to stress them, I think we become very stressed out. Good luck and hope you kitty is better real soon.

 

[daftcat75]

I was just answering a similar question yesterday. I recommend getting as many of the medications compounded into either an easy form like transdermal cream or an appealing form like flavored liquids or treats. It's tempting to get them all compounded as transdermal. But she only has two ears and you're encouraged to switch ears. I would determine the one that compliance is most critical (probably prednisilone if she was prescribed that) and get that as transdermal. The others I would recommend getting the most concentrated liquid form you can so that you give only the smallest amount. My Krista's chemo dose would have been 1 mL of liquid had I not gotten it concentrated. I got it compounded as a highly concentrated anchovy flavored liquid. I only had to give 0.1 ml which I easily mixed with an equal amount of salmon oil. No protests on dosing days there.

Here's the pred transdermal pen we used. Have a look around the Wedgewood website to find your other medications and available formulations.
Prednisolone Twist-a-Dose Transdermal Gel

 

[Bird]

But you can put a pill directly down her throat. Have confidence, you can do it. I learned that when you have cats with chronic health issues, this is a necessary skill. Many instructional videos on the internet. It’s easier with two people. You may need to make a cat-burrito by wrapping your cat in a towel. Even if you can hide a pill inside a treat or coat it with something yummy, eventually you may have a situation when a sick cat doesn’t want to eat—then you need to directly administer the pill. You can get a “pill popper” device to help you get the pill at the back of the throat. If you have multiple pills, put them all inside an empty gel cap. An empty gel cap is perfect for hiding the taste of bitter pills—which cats will spit out. Some cats will even eat the gel cap if it is coated in a creamy treat like Churu or Squeeze-ups. Just be aware that the gel cap will eventually start to dissolve. (I can easily get 3 of my cat’s pills inside a No. 3 size empty gel cap.) You can also hide a small pill inside a soft moldable treat like Meowmix Irresistibles. Some meds can be compounded into transdermal gel that is applied to the inside of the ear, but that can get pricey for long term use. Good luck!

 

[Lillyenn]

Thank you all for the tips. This cat was a stray previously, so she isn't easy when it comes to things she's uncomfortable with. Yesterday I hid her pill in a piece of cooked chicken heart (she really likes it) and she didn't notice the pill and swallowed it no problem. This same method didn't work this morning, because the chicken heart was already cold, and she only likes it when it's fresh and warm, so she noticed the pill and spit it out (this is the level of princessness I'm dealing with) with liquids, we tried giving them with different liquid-ish cat snacks, and other stuff, but it never works, she can feel it (and she only likes very specific foods anyway tuna does nothing for her). But medicine that I can give with a syringe still works better, because she at least swallows some of it, sometimes even the whole thing. Lickable treats don't work either, not even the ones she loves. And since she has inflammation in her mouth, I would just unintentionally hurt her if I tried shoving down things, she's really uncomfortable with opening her mouth wide. There are various things that you all suggested, so I will check them out, but except for maybe pill pockets, I don't have much hope.

 

[LTS3]

Try these TCS member recommended pilling tips:

Pilling Cats: Must-know Tips For Hiding Pills – Cat Articles
The Best Pill-taking Secret I Know...
How We Give Our Pill Hating Cat A Pill
Getting Cat To Take Pills... Post Tips Here.

Never just shove a pill down a cat's throat. The pill may get stuck in the throat and the outside coating of the pill will start to dissolve and the medicine may irritate the lining of the throat causing erosion. See Pilling Cats and Dogs Safely for more info on this. If you must dry pill, follow up with a syringe or two of water or some food.

Some liquid medicines are just nasty tasting, such as Flagyl. There may be a pill form of the medicine. Ask the vet. Some liquid medicines may be mixed with a little canned food or meat baby food or something. Most medicines can be compounded into a different form such as a transdermal gel or flavored chew treats. If your cat only needs to be on the medicines short term, it may not be worth the expense to compound the medicines.

 

[daftcat75]

Here’s another thing that worked for Krista. Not sure if it will work for your princess.

I made these fishy dough bites that I hid the pill inside. The way they were constructed, it was easier for Krista to swallow whole than pick apart. Then again, by this time, she was toothless so there was probably little she could do to pick it apart anyway.

I cut her pill in half with a pill cutter. I smeared each half in just enough wet food to give the yeast something to stick to. I rolled the food smeared pill in s. boulardii, a probiotic yeast, which made it tacky like bread dough. You can probably use brewers yeast in place of s. boulardii. To finish this off and make her want to pill herself every night, I wrapped the yeasty pill ball tightly with a bonito fish flake. Made tight enough, she would gum once or twice at it before swallowing it whole.

This may not work with your cat because I’ve only ever tried it with a toothless cat.

 

[Lillyenn]

Okay so update on the situation, she's much better now. What worked is basically we always cook some meat for her around dinner time (like chicken breast) so we cooked chicken heart, cut it up into two parts and hid the pills inside them. It worked fabolously. The pill we gave her was for mouth related issues, and her vomiting completely stopped, so it's safe to assume that that's where her main problems are, so we got this liquid "medicine stuff" that we can gave our cats with water (since we can't exactly wash their teeth, they are too wild for that.) She also has some liver issues so we are working on that as well.

 

[di and bob]

I'm glad she is better. There are many immune building supplements out there for cats, I would get her on one. I use DMG for my cats with leukemia I get it on Amazon or Walmart. I put it in a little bit of Delectable Lickables in the stew flavors. You could try a tiny bit of cream or goat's milk.

 

[Lillyenn]

I'm glad she is better. There are many immune building supplements out there for cats, I would get her on one. I use DMG for my cats with leukemia I get it on Amazon or Walmart. I put it in a little bit of Delectable Lickables in the stew flavors. You could try a tiny bit of cream or goat's milk.

Oh we already use DMG as well.

 

[solomonar]

Food matters a lot.
A well-known brand does not equal "good for all cats".

Check the label, check the internet, experiment with various brands.

The first option, in my humble opinion, is to check and double-check the food. Only after careful investigation of the food, there is time for medicine.

When I am saying "food" I am not limiting to the food you put in the bowl - surprisingly, cats are very skilled in finding "food" in the house, one never notice it is there :-).

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I got an "applicator" for an equivalent of 1 USD. It looks like a syringe, but it has 2 "tentacles" in place of the needles. When you push the piston, the tentacles release the pill. Easy. Do not push the pill down the throat, but just leave it gently on the back of the tongue and rise the head of the cat.

I guess there are YT clips about this method, I never attempted to look for that because my vet trained me and I found it super-easy. Of course, that greatly depends on the cat.

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The carbohydrates in the food may cause a pre-diabetic condition. Normal blood glycemia does not mean the absence of pre-diabetes!

Excess insulin causes inflammation, which affects gum, heart, nerves - all in various proportions and intensity, depending on the person/cat.

Check the food label for carbohydrates.

Infections and genetic background may lead to immunity drop.
The immune system is as it is. It is very difficult to enhance its performance (not impossible, though). But there are quite a number of various deficiencies which can greatly diminish the effectiveness of the immune system e.g. D3, Zn, and many many others. Sometimes these deficiencies can be easily solved by supplements, but if the absorption capacity is low because of reduced gut bioma or age, then it is quite challenging. Again, food matters.